Rail-joint.



PATENTED APR. 3, 1906. G. H. MARSHALL & G. L. DUNN.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION TILED AUG. 23. 1905.

I INTTE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE H. MARSHALL AND CHARLES L. DUNN, OF ST. JOHNS, MICHIGAN.

RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 3, 1906.

Application filed August 23,1905. Serial No. 275,415.

T0 (6 whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE H. iNIARsHALL and CHARLES L. DUNN, citizens of the United States, residing at St. Johns, in the county of Clinton and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rail-Joints, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention is a rail-joint, and has for its object to provide improved means for uniting the meeting ends of rails without the use of bolts, thereby dispensing with boltholes in the rails and saving the cost of nuts and bolts and the making of bolt-holes and also reducing expense of maintenance.

WVith this and other objects in view, as will appear more fully hereinafter, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction to be described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a rail-joint constructed in accordance with om invention. Fig. 2 is an end view. Fig. 3 is a plan view with the rails removed. Fig. 4 is a plan view showing the two members of the joint separated.

Referring specifically to the drawings, 7 denotes the rail ends, and 8 the stringers or ties. The rail ends are supported on a chair which is in two parts, which are crossed in the manner of shears. One of the members of the chair comprises blocks 9 and 10, which are formed with seats 11 to receive the base of the rails and also extend over the baseflanges of the latter in the usual manner, as

at 12. Near the outer ends the blocks are cut away, so that the portions 12 only remain. This is done to enable the chair to be placed between the stringers, the parts 12 resting on the latter and the blocks resting on the road-bed, as shown in Fig. 1, whereby the rail ends are given a solid support and prevented from sagging under the weight of a train. The blocks are connected by a plate 13. The other member of the chair comprises blocks 14 and 15, which are connected by a plate 16 and have the same form as the block 9 and 10 and engage the rail ends in the same manner. The blocks 9 and 10 extend in parallelism in different planes on opposite sides of the plate 13, so that the part 12 of one of said blocks engages the base-flange of one of the rails and the part 12 of the other block engages the opposite flange of the adjoining rail. The blocks 14 and 15 are arranged in a like manner. The plates 13 and 16 intersect, their edges being rounded to permit turning of the parts. The plates are also reduced in thickness, so that the top of the plate 16 extends flush with the seats of the rails and the bottom of the plate 18 extends flush with the bottom of the blocks. When the joint is in position, the rail ends meet at or about the middle of the plates.

The chair is spiked to the stringers, as at 17, recesses 18 being made in the outer edge of the parts 12 to receive the spikes. The blocks do not come together under the rails, so that when the spikes are driven the parts 12 can be crowded against the base-flanges to tightly grip the same.

A oint constructed as herein described embodies strength and durability, and a perfect alinement is maintained from the fact that one of the chair members engages the base-flange of one of the rails and the opposite base-fiange of the adjoining rail, and vice versa. The rails can expand and contract without in any way affecting the efiiciency of the joint.

Having thus described our invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is

1. A rail-chair comprising two intersecting members having railengaging means which extend in different planes on opposite sides of the point of intersection.

2. A rail-chair comprising two separable members having rail-engaging means, one of said members engaging one of the rails on one side and the opposite side of the adjoining rail, and vice versa.

3. A rail-chair comprising two intersecting members secured to the stringers, and having depending portions resting on the road-bed, and provided with rail-engaging means which extend in different planes on opposite sides of the point of intersection.

4. A rail-chair comprising two members, each of which consists of blocks provided with rail-engaging means, and a plate connecting said blocks, said plates intersecting, and the blocks extending in different planes on opposite sides of the point of intersection of the plates.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE H. MARSHALL. CHARLES L. DUNN Witnesses:

CHARLES M. MERRILL, R. S. ARMOUR. 

